Cannes Film Festival opens today with Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, and for the next 12 days the Mediterranean resort town on the French Riviera plays host to the 66th edition of the world's most respected, most influential and most circus-like cine-jamboree. Stars, filmmakers, industry bigwigs and journalists congregate for the annual pilgrimage that celebrates, sanctifies and commercialises cinema to an extent that's both astounding and puzzling.
Le Passe (The Past)
If the question remains why Cannes is so important, the easiest way to answer that is because the festival is a glittering showcase of films that are likely to be debated, loved and hated for the next 12 months or so. This is where the well-being of world cinema is gauged _ or so we believe, and for the sake of art and passion let's keep believing it so.
The Official Selection, as usual, is made up of the elite Competition of around 20 films, complemented with Un Certain Regard, a second-tier catalogue believed to be "lesser" than the top league (though it often supplies pleasant surprises).
There's also the Directors' Fortnight, a sidebar programme put together by the French Film Directors Association and attached to the main festival. All of these films will find their way to cinemas around the world later _ but Cannes is where they're first "tasted" by critics and professionals, just like a servant in the ancient Chinese court takes the first bite of royal food to make sure it's not poisoned.
Usually, the focus is on the Competition, chock-full of brand-name directors from Steven Soderbergh to the Coen brothers, from Japanese masters to French heavyweights, plus a few surprise names along the way. We will have more on the festival throughout the next 12 days in LIFE, as well as online. In this first article, I follow my hunch and pick some of the titles we should be excited about.
Check the Bangkok Post website for updates from Cannes from tomorrow onwards. Here goes:
Le Passe (The Past): From Iranian director Asghar Farhadi (Jodaeiye Nader Az Simin _ A Separation _ winner of the best screenplay Oscar two years ago), Benerice Bejo (The Artist) plays a French woman whose Iranian husband leaves her and goes back to his country. When she asks for a divorce, a chain of emotional and social complications ensue. Farhadi's A Separation is one of the best-reviewed films over the past years, and this follow-up carries a load of expectation.
Tian Zhu Ding (A Touch Of Sin): Chinese director Jia Zhangke is a chronicler of the caustic tension of new China as the country leaps into the capitalist future. A Touch Of Sin (a pun on King Hu's a Touch Of Zen) is described by Jia as a road movie with action scenes. Among the cast is Wang Baoqiang, who starred in the mega-hit Lost In Thailand. It is the only Chinese film in the main Competition this year.
Soshite Chichi Ni Naru (Like Father, Like Son): Many films from Japanese director Hirozaku Kore-eda were released here (Nobody Knows, Air Doll, Tokyo Sonata, I Wish), and likely this new family drama about a child-switching incident will find its way here too. Kore-eda's brand of gloved scrutiny of domestic trouble is outstanding. Like Father, Like Son is one of the two Japanese films in the main Competition _ the other is an action film Wara No Tate (Shield Of Straw) by Takashi Miike.
La Vie d'Adele (Blue Is The Warmest Colour): French director of Tunisian descent Abdellatif Kechiche adapts a hit French comic book into a movie about a girl who has a crush on a blue-haired woman, the latter played by Lea Seydoux.
Behind The Candelabra: Michael Douglas plays a gay man in a troubled relationship with his young lover, played by Matt Damon. This Competition title is directed by Steven Soderbergh, who said earlier this year that he would quit filmmaking, a vow that apparently has happily been broken.
Only God Forgives: There's no Thai film in Cannes this year, but this Bangkok-set thriller, starring Ryan Gosling and directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, will bring the neon-lit kaleidoscope of our capital to Cannes competition. The film opens in Thailand on June 27.
The Bling Ring: Sofia Coppola's new film, which is likely to get a release here, tells the story of a group of fashionably dressed female teenagers who get their kick by robbing the homes of celebrities. Starring Emma Watson, among others, the film is the headline in Un Certain Regard, the second-tier competition.
Les Salauds: Every new film by French director Claire Denis makes cinephiles wet their mouths in anticipation. Presented in the Un Certain Regard, Les Salauds (literally, The Bastards) stars Vincent Lindon and Chiara Mastroianni in a story of family secrets and hired revenge. The last time Denis' film _ and herself _ was in Thailand was in 2009 when she came to show White Material at the Bangkok International Film Festival.
L'Image Manquante (The Missing Image): Rithy Panh is a Cambodian filmmaker who's been living in Paris since he fled the Khmer Rouge regime. In his new film, he uses small figurines to tell the history of Cambodia under the reign of Pol Pot. Showing in Un Certain Regard.
Norte, The End Of History: Nothing much is known about this 240-minute Filipino film by Lav Diaz, a filmmaker known for harsh lyricism in his portrayal of life at the margin. His previous films have been shown in Bangkok, at small festivals and gatherings, and he has cultivated quite a following among Thai viewers undaunted by the slow burn of his drama. This new one is sure to make its way here sooner or later. Showing in Un Certain Regard.
Death March: Filipino Adolfo Alix Jr's new film tells the story of how 60,000 Filipino and American soldiers were forced to walk 128km by the Japanese army during World War II. The whole film, to be premiered in the Un Certain Regard programme, was shot in a studio.
Bends: This Hong Kong film from first-time filmmaker Flora Lau tells the story of a rich housewife (Carina Lau) and her chauffer (Kun Chen). Showing in Un Certain Regard.
The Congress: From Israeli director Ari Folman (the haunting Waltz With Bashir), this animated movie is said to be an adaptation of a mind-warping sci-fi novel The Futurological Congress by Polish writer Stanislaw Lem, but the synopsis reads totally unlike the book. Here, Robin Wright plays an actress (supposedly herself) who disappears for 20 years before returning to the future utopia as the World Congress on Futurology is taking place. This is the opening film of the Directors' Fortnight section, a sidebar to the main Cannes festival.
Ilo Ilo: The first film by Singaporean director Anthony Chen tells the story of the Lim family and their new Filipina maid. The backdrop is the 1997 financial crisis which sends financial and social tremors throughout the Asean region. Showing in Director's Fortnight.
Follow our updates from Cannes on the Bangkok Post website.
The Bling Ring
